NBA announces change to All-Star game format with rosters to be picked on the night of the matchup in person immediately before the teams tip-off
The NBA All-Star rosters will not be known until the night of the game on February 19.
The team captains – probably LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and either Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant – will make their picks in a live, televised pregame segment shortly before the game begins in Salt Lake City.
Durant actually once suggested the idea on a podcast appearance with boardroom tv, and it appears that the league liked his idea.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced the format change on Tuesday night.
LeBron James of the LA Lakers is likely to be a captain for the NBA All-Star game next month
This will be the sixth time that the league has used the format where captains choose their teams, but in each of the first five instances the rosters were selected several days before the game.
The captains and starters will be announced on Thursday.
James has been a captain in each of the first five years and, based on the results of voting released by the league late last week, is virtually certain to be one again this year. The leading vote-getter from both the Eastern and Western Conference earns the right to be a captain.
Durant was the early leader among East players, then fell slightly behind Antetokounmpo in the most recent balloting. He’s still expected to be selected as a starter, and it won’t be known until Thursday if he reclaimed the East voting lead in the final days.
All star team captains will now pick their teammates immediately before the game is played
Ballots to decide the starters were due Saturday.
‘I want to play,’ Durant told reporters in New York on Tuesday. ‘I want to be a part of all these events.’
James’ teams are 5-0 in All-Star games when he is a captain.
Durant has been a captain as the East’s voting leader in each of the past two years. Antetokounmpo was in the previous two years, 2019 and 2020.
The top three frontcourt players and top two guards in each conference will be chosen as starters, with the leading overall vote-getters from each conference serving as captains and choosing their teams.
Fan voting counts for 50 percent of the starters balloting, a media ballot counts for 25 percent and the ballots turned in by NBA players count for the other 25 percent.
Reserves – chosen by NBA coaches, seven players from each conference – will be revealed on February 2.
Kevin Durant recently suggested the idea on a podcast appearance, and it has since come true
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